Tourists not fazed by floods threat, locals pray at temples

(15 Oct 2011) SHOTLIST 1. Tilt up from person playing ranat ek (Thai xylophone) to traditional dancers inside Buddhist temple 2. Close up of dancer 3. Various of residents and tourists lighting incense and praying at temple 4. Wide of temple entrance 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Suphanita Sieicha, 35, Local resident: "I pray here for Thailand flooding crisis. So I had to pray that the flood will stop from happening and problem can be resolved." 6. Wide of Chaopraya river at high tide, zoom in to flooded houses 7. People outside flooded house on river bank 8. Woman walking inside flooded house 9. Woman wringing out piece of clothing 10. Interior of flooded house 11. Woman taking shirt from clothes line hanging over flood water 12. Wide of entrance to Bangkok's Grand Palace 13. Tourists browsing in market outside the Grand Palace 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Dena Chapman, 82, American tourist: (talking about Ayutthaya) "It's terrible, terrible. I love that place and it is a shame how it is. We won't be going there though." 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, No name given, German tourist: "Yes, I am worried but I am flying back tomorrow. So..." 16. Wide of tuk-tuks outside Grand Palace 17. Mid of palace roof STORYLINE Bangkok residents gathered at temples on Saturday to pray for the safety of their city, as Thailand's capital braced itself for some of the worst floods in decades. But many tourists in the city did not seem too concerned and carried on with their visits to landmarks such as the grand Grand Palace. Both Thais and tourists have visited the Erawan shrine, a well known Buddhist temple, where they have burned incense and prayed for the water to subside. "I pray here for Thailand flooding crisis. I had to pray that the flood will stop from happening and problem can be resolved," said one woman. The worst floods in half-a-century have submerged entire towns across Thailand's central plains, devastating rice crops and halting hundreds of factories. Some 8.2 (m) million people in 61 of Thailand's 77 provinces have been affected by the flooding, which has killed 283 people since late July. Now the high water that devastated parts of central Thailand is flowing towards the low-lying metropolis. Authorities have been warning that water rushing from the north could combine with rain and high tides to flood the capital. Some have said the flow would be so strong that authorities would be left with little choice but to watch the city drown. Water levels around the Chaopraya River, which runs through the centre of the city, have already risen, inundating houses with knee deep water. The threat of the capital engulfed by the water does not stop tourists from flowing into the Grand Palace, one of the iconic landmarks and tourist spots in Bangkok, although some of the landmarks hare closing. Ayuttaya, the ancient city named as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site outside Bangkok, is already submerged and tourists have been prevented from visiting. "It's terrible, terrible. I love that place and it is a shame how it is," said 82-year-old American tourist Dena Chapman. According to the local media, the Thai Tourism Ministry is now looking at lowering the tourist target for this year. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...